EDUCATION/EQUITY
While many education advocates have long argued for breaking up highly segregated neighborhoods in order to create more integrated schools to the benefit of lower-income and minority students, a new study suggests that perhaps the key lies in doing the reverse (WaPo, 5/10):

If we found ways to integrate schools […] that might take some of the exclusivity out of certain neighborhoods. School quality is capitalized into housing prices, making those neighborhoods unaffordable to many families. Imagine, for instance, if all the public schools in the District or the Washington region were integrated and of comparable quality. Families might pay more to live in Northwest to be near Rock Creek Park. But you’d see fewer home-bidding wars there just to access scarce school quality. More to the point, homes families already paid handsomely to buy might lose some of their value.

– Despite figures that show that non-white students comprise the majority of the student body at U.S. public schools since 2014, children of color – particularly boys – are still falling behind their white counterparts. A Harvard University economist shares highlights from a new study on the matter. (NPR, 5/11)

WORKFORCE/ECONOMY | For many high school graduates that have not pursued higher education, economic recovery has come much more slowly than for those who have graduated college. With an estimated 3.2 million disadvantaged youths between 16 and 24 who are not in school and are not working, companies like JPMorgan Chase have made it a priority to offer career-focused education in high schools and community colleges. (NYT, 5/10)

HEALTH/EQUITY
– Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has signed a bill that is expected to provide “the most comprehensive insurance coverage for contraception in the country.” (WaPo, 5/10)

– According to the most recent federal data, the life-expectancy gap among white Americans and African Americans – once seven years – is now at its lowest point in history at 3.4 years. The shrinking gap is reportedly due in part to lower rates of homicide and violence. (NYT, 5/8)